Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Crane Beach, MA |
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 | Trails: |
Green Trail, Orange Trail, Red Trail, Blue Trail, Yellow Trail, Black Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 19, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The park is open 8am to sunset every day. There are no parking signs outside the gate but there were several cars parked there at 7am so I figured that the signs just meant alongside the road and you could indeed park in the gravel pullouts where people were. Evidently, you can only get away with this before they open. My car was ticketed upon my return. See my link below for rates getting into the beach. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trails are marked in their respective colors and there are trail maps at every or nearly every jct which are very helpful. I do not recall any blowdowns. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dogs are allowed on the beach for in the extended and off season but not in summer season it looks like. They do not seem to be allowed on ANY trails though. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
First hike of the day, and man oh man was this a great one! Definitely one of my favorite "hikes" ever. Definitely my favorite in the MA guidebook thus far. Hiking on/near a beach is generally pretty unique within itself but with the sand dunes and everything else, this was truly a gem. What's more with temps below freezing in the early morning, the sand was partially frozen and a little easier to walk on than it normally would be, lol. This changed as the day wore on and it became much harder to walk on.
From where I parked (see important notes above), I walked 0.3mi to the start of Green Trail, then began hiking the loop clockwise. After 0.3mi, there's a left that's also marked as Green Trail that leads to the beach. Not mentioned in the guidebook but it's labelled on maps as Green Trail so I still did it for redlining. It is 0.3mi one-way. I also did an OAB on the Orange Trail which is 0.3mi one-way and connects Green and Red Trails but is not mentioned in the guidebook. I then began the Red Trail, did a OAB on Blue, Yellow, and Black Trails along the way before closing the Red Loop, then the Green Loop. There are some spurs along these trails that I did as well even if they aren't mentioned in the guidebook but note that some of their locations are no longer accurate on Gaia as some have been rerouted including a portion of Red Trail. I saw a number of others out but unfortunately did not see any snowy owls!
There was virtually no snow on trail and just small patches off trail at the time. While mostly flat, there are a number of small rises, some steep to get up and down, sometimes made challenging by the sand.
Sunrise was gorgeous and it was not a very cold or windy day. Just about a perfect winter's day for such a wonderful hike! Gaia had me at 9.25mi, about 150ft of gain, 3hr45min. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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 | Date Submitted: |
2025-01-22 |
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 | Link: |
https://thetrustees.org/content/crane-beach-admissions/ |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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